Toy.



D. P. CLARK.

TOY.

APPLICATION FILED 11017.30, 1912.

Patented June 23, 1914.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

D. P. CLARK.

TOY.

APPLICATION FILED NOV.30,1912.

Patented June 23, 1914.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

lwuemtoz WWW v p .0 DAVID P. CLARK, OF DAYTON, OHIO;

roY.

' Specification of 'Zetters latent. Patented June 23, 1914,

Application tiled Rev-emb r so, 1912. Serial no. 734,264.

To all whom it may concern 4 Be a known that 1, mac P. CLARK, a citizen of the United States, residing at Dayton, in the county of Mentgomery and State of Ohio, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Toys, of which the following is a specification, reference being had therein to the accompanying drawdhis invention relates to toys of the self propelling type and the object of the invention is, first, to provide a toy of this kind with means forautomatically reversing the direction of its movement, and, second, to so mount the motor mechanism that its entire weight will be utilized to retain the drii'ing members in driving contact.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a longitudinal, sectional view, taken vertically on the line y y of Fig. 2, illustrating one embodiment of the invention and showing the same equipped with a friction drive; Fig'. 2 is a longitudinal, sectionalview taken horizontally on the line a w of Fig. l; and Figs. 3 and 4 are similar views showing the toy equipped with a toothed gear drive.

In these drawings I have illustrated one embodiment tr my invention, the two forms differing only in such a manner as is necessary to change from a friction gear drive to 'a toothed gear drive. In both forms the essential features of construction are the sanie. As here illustrated the toy comprises a bedy portion or main framel which may e of any suitable character. In the resent instanceI have, for the purpose 0 illustration shown this body portion as a mere rectangular frame but in actual practice the toy would comprise an ornamental body portion representing some object, such, for example, as the body of an automobile, this body portion either constituting the frame itself or being mounted upon the frame. This body portion or frame 1 is carriedby three sets of ground wheels, the front and reangronnfd wheels being shown arena 3, respectively," and'the intermediate ground wheels which, in the present embodiment or the inv ention, constitute the traetion wheels,

being shown at 4. Ino'rde'r that the intermediate ground wheels or traction wheels may always have a firm engagement with the floor or other supporting s trace the axles for the front and rear wheel: are prefe'rably mounted in vertical Side a and, can" sequently, will not at any time carry all the load.

lhe motor mechanism, which may be of any suitable character, is preferablymounted in a supplemental frameti which is capable of both a vertical movement and a swinging movement and, to this end, is pro ,v1d e wlth vertical slots 7 by meansof which it is mounted on a transversevshaft 8, this shaft being carried by upwardly extending ortion s 9 of the main frame 1. In the o'y here illustrated the motor. mechanism comprises an inertia wheel and in that form of the toy shown in Figs. 1 and 2 a fries tron drive is employed. The manner of transmitting the power from the inertia.

wheel to the traction wheels 4 my, of course, be of any suitable character ut instead of ap lying the power directly to the periphery o the traction wheels, as is more or less common, I have, in the present stance, rovided a driving member 10 whi dli v rigid y secured to' the axle l1, which ear r1es the traction wheels 4:, between the side members of the body portion 0' 1. The use of this auxiliary driving-meniber enables me to arrange the motor mecha'nlsm 1n 2. more convenient manner and to apply the power more directly to e driving mechanism. The inertia whee which constitutes the motor proper of the present toy is shown at 12 and is rigidly secure% to a shaft 13 which is journaled in one 0 main frame the side members of the supplemental or motor frame 6 and in an intermediate frame, member 140' extending longitudinallyof s id supplemental frame near the center t ereof. Rigidly seciired to the shaft 1 of the inertia wheel is a pinion 14; meshin with a gear 1% which, in turn,,ineshes,wit a gear 16 carried by a shaft 17 on which is mounted a drivin member, such as a, friction pinio'n 1 8, a apted to fricti'nally eligage the dr ving member 10 on t e axle 11 of the traction wheels and transmit power 100 from said motor mechanism there For the purpose of securing an increased fric; t1onal engagement the friction pinion 18 18' here shown as having a. tapered groove while the opposite edges or the. r m of an in? driving member 16 are beveled, this produciug a wedg'ing actionbetw'een ,the two driving members. which materally Increase a friction. otgigusl", irwvgr, are a this relate o cast-aster It will be noted that the shaft 17 which carries the friction member 18 is carried by the supplemental frame '6 and can, by movin that frame about its axis, be moved into an out of frictional engagement with the driving member l0.

I ower may be stored in the inertia wheel in any suitable manner but, in the presentform of the device I do this by hand-actuated mechanism and to that end have mount-* ed in the supplemental frame a shaft 19 having one end projecting beyond the side of the main frame and adapted to receive a crank or other suitable device for rotating the same. It will be noted that the main frame is rovided with a curved slot 20 to permit of the movement of the shaft with the supplemental frame when the latter is moved about its axis or vertically. Rigidly' secured to the shaft 19 is a gear 21 meshing with a pinion 22 rigidly connected shaft 19 by means of the crank the desired amount of power may. be. stored in the inertiawheel and then transmitted to the traction wheelsby again shifting the motor frame to "brin the driving members into operative relation.

It is desirable that means should be provided for propellin the toy in either direction and to accomp ish this I have mounted in the motor frame a second frictional driv-.

ing member 25 adapted to be moved into and out of operative relation with the driving member 10. This second driving memher is so positionedwith relation to the driving pinion 18 that whenone driving pinion is in'engagement with the driving member 10 the other must necessarily be out 0f en gagement therewith, and further, the distance between the two driving pinions is such that the motor frame may have a neutral position, that is, a. position in which both driving pinions will be out of engagement with the driving member 10. The driving member 25 has rigidly secured thereto a pinion 26 which meshes with a gear 27 which, in turn, meshes with a pinion 28 rigidly secured to the gear 15 which meshes with the pinion 14 on the motor or inertia wheel shaft 13.

the motor frame in its adjusted positions itis provided along one edge with a flange 30 having a series of notches 31 adapted to be engaged-by a pivoted catch 32 mounted upon the main frame 1. By properly placing the axis about which the motor frame moves the center of gravity can be so arranged that when either of the driving pinions is in engagement with the driving member 10 the center of gravity will be on that side of the axis adjacent to that pinion and the weight of the device will tend to hold the same in operative relation to the drivin member.

" Further, it will be noted that t e vertical movement of the motor frame will cause the entire weight of this motor frame, as well as the inertia wheel and other parts carried thereby to be transmitted to the pinion which is in engagement with the driving member 10 and this weight is thus utili to hold the members in driving contact. I have also provided means for automatically shifting the position of the motor frame, thus enabling the direction of movement of the traction wheels to be automati cally reversed. In that form of the device here shown, which embodies two driving members, the pinions 18 and 25, the'reversal will be a positive one, but if a single drivin pinion were utilized the reversal. could stil besecured by causing the toy to run u an incline and at the top of the incline shi ing the motor frame to disengage the driving members, thus permitting the toy to move downward by gravity. At the bottom of the incline the frame could be shifted to again engage the driving members and move the toy forward so long as the inertia wheel retains sufiicient power to drive the toy. Preferably, the means for automatically shifting the motor frame comprise a part connected with the motor frame and projecting beyond the main frame into a position in which it will engage an obstruction in the thereof and will thus be actuated to shift the path motor frame. In the present embodiment of v the invent-ion this part comprises a rod 33 of a length greater than the length of the toy and projecting beyond both ends thereof. Preferably, the rod extends through openings in the end members of the and is slidably supported thereby, it may be supported in any desired A bell crank lever 34: is pivotally sup ported on the main frame and has one arm connected with the motor. frame and the other arm connected with the rod 3.3, both connections being sliding ones to permit if the relative movements of the parts. 0 viously, longitudinal "movement of the rod 33 will, through the bell crank lever 34, move the motor frame about its axis. It

although of the rod 33 to engage an obstruction, such .as a wall, the force with which the rod comes in contact with the obstruction will mam frame a manner.

will be apparent, therefore, that if the toy 0 1S propelled in a direction to cause the end* Letters Patent, 'i's be sufficient to shift the motor frame, thus carrying the one driving pinion out of en gagement with the driving member for the traction wheels and carrying thefiother driv-' ing pinion into engagement with that memher and inasmuch as the driving inions rotate in opposite directions the dlrection of movement of the toy will be reversed. If the toy is arranged between two obstructions, as'between two walls, the motor frame will be alternately shifted in opposite directions and the direction of movement of the toy reversed and the toycaused to travel back and forth between the two walls until the power of the motor has been exhausted.

In that form of the toy shown in Figs. 3' and 4 the construction is substantially the same as that just described with the exception of the manner of transmitting the power from the motor shaft 13 to the traction Wheels 4. The motor shaft has secured thereto the pinion 14, as in the form shown in Figs.- 1 and 2'," and this pinion meshes with a gear 35 which, in turn, meshes with a gear36 adapted to be moved into and out of engagement with a pinion 37 on the axle ll of the traction wheels. A pinion 38 is rigidly secured to the gear 35 and meshes with a gear 39 which, in turn, meshes with a pinion 40 adapted to be moved into and. out of mesh with a gear 41 also rigidly secured to the axle 11 for the traction wheels. With the motor frame 6 in its'neutral position, as shown in the drawings, boththe gear 36 and the pinion 40 will be out of mesh with the driving members which aremounted on the axle, but by moving the frame in the proper direction either the pinion or the gear may be caused to mesh with the corresponding driving member on the axle. The inertia wheel is actuated to generate the power approximately in the same manner as in the form ment of the gearing being substantially the same as in said first-mentioned form.

While I have shown and described one embodiment of my invention it will be understood that this has been chosen for the pn ose of illustration only and that I do not esire to be limited to the details of construction shown and described, for ob-' vious modifications will occur to a personskilled in the art.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by 1. In a toy, a mai ing member journaled on said main frame, a supplemental frame ,mounted on said main frame, power mechanism mounted on said supplemental frame. two power transmitting devices mounted on said supplemental frame on opposite sides of 'a line extending centrally through said driving memn frame, a rotary driv-' her and having geared connections with said power'mechamsm for movement in opposite directions, means to manipulate said supplemental frame to cause either of said power transmitting devices to engage said driving member or to move both of said transmitting devices out of engagement with said drivin member, and. means connected with one o said geared connections for manually actuat 7 ing said power-mechanism when said transmissiondevi'ces are both out of 'engagemen with said driving member.

2. In a toy, a main frame, a rotary am ing member journaled on said main frame, a supplemental frame mounted on said main frame, power mechanism mounted on said supplemental frame, two ower transmitting devices mounted on sai supplemental frame on opposite sides of a line extend. ing centrally t roughfsaid. driving member and havin geared connection with said power'rnec anismfor movement in opposite directions, means tomanipulate said 'su plemental frame to cause either of said power transmitting devices to engage said drivin member or to move both of said transmittin devices out of engagement \with said driving member, and means to lock said transmission devices in either one of said three positions.

3. In a toyfa main ing member journaled on said main frame, a su plemental frame mounted for vertical bodi y movement on said main frame, power mechanism mounted on said supplemental frame, a power transmission device also mounted on said supplemental frame. and adapted to be moved into and out of engagement with said airiving member, said transmission device being so arranged that when it is in engagement with said driving member substantially the entire weight of said supplemental frame and the parts carframe, a rotary (him ried thereby will rest upon said power transmission device to hold the same in operative engagement with said driving member.

4. In a toy, a body portion, a rotary friction driving member journaled on said body portion, a supplemental frame pivotally mounted on said body portion and capable of vertical movement relatively thereto, an

inertia wheel carried by said supplemental frame, a friction pinion carried by said supplemental frame and operatively connected with said inertia wheel, said friction pinion being adapted to be moved into and out of engagement with said friction driving member by the pivotal movement thereof and to be held in operative engagement by the.

weight of said supplemental frame and the arts carried thereby, which weight is transmitted to the friction pinion by the vertical movement of said supplemental frame. I

'5. In a toy, a body portion, a rota friction driving member journaled on sai body ei-ties, "a; sup-Elemental rf'reme ivotally mbmigtedensm bodyortion an eapable of Wtti'c'al movement relatively thereto, an inei'ti'a wheel carried by said supplemental g flfgi'me, two frietidn pimo'ns darned by said supplemental frame and "adapted to be .mhved alternate iiit'o'hnd out of engage: merit with said rietie'ndriving member by the inevehient (if said supplemental frame in "eppesite di rectibhs about its axis and when 'in en" agement with said frictional dri-vi ng mem r toi'eceiv'e substantially the entirefyieight' (if said frame and the 'parts callfifl thereby. 1 h 6. 'In a toy, a body p0rti0n,a'r0ta1g frictieh' d riving member jour'n aledon sai body ortion, a sup lement'ell frame ivotally mounted 0118315 'body portion and capable of Vrbial movement 'reliitively thert'o'yali 20 'in'rtie wheel carried by said supplemelrital iranie, two 'frietioh VVittiesses-p "W. SCHAEFER,

'HARRIET L. HAMMAKER. 

